City Council discusses big rig parking lot

Published 8:00 am Wednesday, March 30, 2016

City officials approached the subject of big rig parking at a recent city retreat. Big trucks are apparently causing damage and other issues on local city roads, raising concerns.

One solution officials are looking into is establishing a designated city lot for overnight tractor-trailer parking. This could help keep the big rigs off neighborhood roads and possibly generate revenue for the city if it’s a pay lot. But there are still a number of questions the most recent conversation by city officials did not address.

If city officials have not done so already, it would behoove them to get some level of feedback from local truck drivers and a study on what location would be most feasible.

Doing so would give them at least some idea as to whether or not drivers are receptive to the idea.

If the city lot is established and drivers aren’t willing to pay to use it, then it still won’t address any of the concerns. Another issue is location. While one suggestion was using part of the former Shaw building site, city officials must also consider whether or not the location is centralized enough for drivers to use. To address the road damage, the lot would need to be accessible by truckers from a state route, but are there other locations, take for instance the former J.P. Stevens site which was also mentioned, that may be a better fit?

Is the former Shaw building the most ideal location for drivers and is this the best practical use of the site for the city?

The recent discussion will also likely raise concerns from truck drivers about security. If the Shaw site is chosen for the city lot, will there be any kind of security to ensure that trucks and drivers will be safe, particularly at night? Keep in mind that the former Shaw building has fallen victim to thousands of dollars in copper theft and damage in recent years due to lax security.

Another issue to consider is if truckers have to pay to use the city lot but they can still park in their current locations for free without issue, what then, is the benefit of using the designated parking area unless city officials look at an ordinance change to force them to use the lot.

If the city goes to the effort of establishing a designated lot for local truckers, but no one utilizes it, then it will all have been wasted effort.

This discussion will likely continue at an upcoming city council work session. Hopefully there will be local drivers there to weigh in on the conversation with a different perspective.